Barcelona star Lamine Yamal says Liverpool should be considered the favourites for this year’s Champions League having finished top of the group phase of the competition.
Liverpool won seven of their eight matches prior to this season’s knockout stage, with a 3-2 defeat at the hands of PSV Eindhoven the only blotch on the club’s otherwise perfect record in Europe.
The Merseyside giants will discover their last-16 opponents on Friday, once the remaining play-off ties have concluded.
Arsenal and Aston Villa joined Arne Slot’s men in the top eight to safely advance through to the round of 16, while Manchester City must overturn a 3-2 deficit against Real Madrid to secure progression.
Barcelona, meanwhile, finished second in the group-stage table, winning six of their eight contests, a decade on from their most recent Champions League triumph under Luis Enrique.
‘It depends on us,’ Yamal told Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo when asked whether Barca could win the Champions League, La Liga and the Copa del Rey this season.
‘There is only one team in the Champions League that is more favoured than us and that is Liverpool, because they finished first.
‘And in La Liga we are first at the moment so it all depends on us.
‘It’s win, win and when you are winning you go through to the next round and it becomes easier and easier.’
Yamal started all but one of Barcelona’s games in the Champions League group phase, racking up two goals and two assists for the Catalan outfit.
The 17-year-old forward is hopeful ‘this could be the year’ for Barcelona at long last after a decade without silverware in Europe’s premier competition.
‘In the end you have the hope but that happens every year,’ the Spain winger added, with Barca failing to reach a single final since their 2015 victory over Juventus.
‘Last year I think everyone was excited about the Champions League.
‘This year again, but you don’t talk specifically about whether we can win this or that, but you can see that everyone wants to win, that they are excited. I think this year could be the year.’
Yamal has 18 months remaining on his current deal at the Camp Nou and discussions over a possible extension have been put on hold for the time being.
‘I don’t think anyone doubts what I’m like as a Barca player and how much I love this club,’ he said when quizzed on his contract situation.
‘I’ve said it since I made my debut and I think it will be resolved in the end.
‘If both parties want something to happen, it will happen. But I don’t think anyone can doubt what I feel for this club.
‘Everything is perfect here in Barcelona and the truth is that I have been very happy since I started out in the first-team.
‘The way I’ve been welcomed and the affection I have felt from both the fans and my team-mates has meant so much.’
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